Eire-shield



n. s. WATSON.

FIRE SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, 191 l.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

fir?? I bol N mww 1w D. S. WATSON.

' FIRE SHIELD APPLICATION man SEPT. 26, 1911.

Y Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

DAVID S. WATSON, OF CANASTOTA, NEW YORK.

FIRE-SHIELD.

Application filed September 26, 1911.

which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in fire shields for belt and other openings in the walls and partitions of buildings and is particularly useful in connection with the openings in brick and other tire proof walls to automatically cut off communication between adjacent rooms or between the interior and outside of a building in case of tire through such opening.

The primary object is to provide the aperture walls with one or more normally open closures and suitable means for holding them in their open positions including means influenced by heat for automatically releasing the closures and permitting them to close by gravity in case of fire.

Attention is directed to my patents #stessa umh 26, 1907; #889337, June 2, 1908 and #900,243 October 6, 1908 and also to my pending applications #582,180, filed September 15, 1910; #528,181, led September 15, 1910 and #630,284 filed May 31, 1911, all of which are illustrative of the progress made in this art to meet different conditions requiring lire protection.

The distinguishing feature of my present application is that I have sought to guard the opening at one side or both sides of the wall against the passage of fire therethrough and to cause the release of both.

shields by heat at either side or both sides i of the wall.

Another object is to enable the coacting shields to be adjusted independently of each other to conform to the ends of openings of different angles relatively to the plane of the wall.

A still further object is to make the bearings of the relatively movable parts of the shield or shields of different metals to reduce the liability of such parts becoming set by corrosion.

Another object is to provide the coacting abutments of each shield with transversely eonveXed or rounding faces to allow the belt or other article passing through the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Serial No. 651,415.

opening` to ride more freely there across in case the shield should close upon the moving belt during a fire, thereby reducing the liability of serious injury to the shield.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of an apertured brick wall equipped with my improved lire shield. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same wall and shield taken on line 2 2,

Fig. 1, both shields being shown in their open positions. Figs. 3 and l are respectively a front elevation and a side elevation of a modified form'of means for holding one of the movable closures in its open position. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged detail sectional views taken respectively on lines 5 5 and 6 6, Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the frame of one of the shields, showing the removable cross bar as detached to permit the shield to be placed over and around the belt without severing said belt or disconnecting its coupled ends.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have shown a portion of a brick wall 1 having a belt opening 2 therethrough.

A pair of open substantially rectangular shield frames 3 are secured by suitable fastening' means as bolts 4 to opposite faces of sides of the wall 1 so as to surround the opposite ends of the opening 2 each frame being preferably composed of similar upright side bars 5 and lower and upper cross bars 6 and 7 all of which may be made of sheet metal or other heat resisting material and suitably secured to each other to constitute a rigid frame.

In practice the upper bar 7 is permanently riveted to the upper ends of the side bars 5- while the lower cross bar 6 is preferably secured to the lower ends of said upright bars by movable fasframe being secured to the wall in such manner that its opening will register with that in the wall.

The back of the frame is substantially flat and smooth so as to fit snuglyagainst the adjacent face of the wall for the purpose of precluding any possibility of air drafts between the frame and wall.

The side plates or upright bars -5- are preferably laminated, each being composed of a comparatively heavy fiat stiifening plate or reinforcing bar -9- and a relatively thinner sheet metal plate -lO-, both of substantially the same length and having their outer longitudinal edges substantially coincident.

Each of the plates 10 is slightly wider than its corresponding reinforcing bar n9- so as to extend inwardly slightly beyond the inner longitudinal edge of said bar to form one of the guide flanges -11- for a movable closure -12-.

The upper cross bar or plate 7- is preferably made of sheet metal usually of greater vertical width than that of the closure l2- and is provided at opposite sides with pendant extensions -13- of substantially the same transverse width as that of the corresponding sheet metal side plates lO- This bar -7- has its opposite longitudinal edges substantially coincident with the corresponding edges of the reinforcing bars -9-- and is applied to the back faces thereof. That is, the reinforcing bars -9- are secured between the sheet metal plates 10- and -7- by suitable fastening means as rivets, thereby constituting a unitary structure comprising the upright cross bar and pendant extensions at opposite sides thereof.

The pendant extensions -13 of the plate -7-A terminate short of the lower ends of the reinforcing bars -9- a distance corresponding to the vertical width of the cross bar -6- which is secured to the back of the lower ends of the bars -9- by the bolts -8- so as to lie in the same plane as the plate 7*- and its extensions The lower edge of the bar 6 and upper edge of the cross bar -7- are provided with outturned lengthwise reinforcing ribs or lianges -14- and l5- the upper edge of the bar -6- being also overturned outwardly between the pendant extensions of the frame to form' a concavo-convex flange -16- having its convex face uppermost to form a bearing for the belt or other article which may be passed through the opening -2-. In like manner the lower edge of each gate or closure -12- is provided with an outturned fiange 1T- which is concavo-convex in cross section and disposed with its convex face adjacent that of the ange -16- for the same purpose; that is, to permit the belt to ride freely thereon in ca se the gate should be closed by lire while the belt is running. For a similar purpose the inner edges of the upright plates -10- are bent outwardly to form transversely convexed bearings l8- for the edges of the belt and also to reinforce the entire frame. It is now clear that the inner edges of the side plates l0-.and extensions -13- of the bar -7- project slightly beyond the corresponding edges of the reinforcing bars -9-- to form lengthwise guide grooves *20- receiving and guiding the adjacent edges of the gate or closure -12-. It therefore follows-that this gate travels in close proximity to and across the front face of the bar -7 and in order tl at each gate may operate freely at any time after being held in its open position for greater or less periods of time, its back and also its upper and side edges are covered with a layer --12- of different material such as brass to reduce the liability of corrosion which might interfere with the operation of the gate and prevent its closing when released.

Any suitable means including one or more devices influenced by heat may be employed for holding the gates in their open positions and for automatica/,ily releasing them in case of fire and for this purpose I have shown each gate as held in operative position by a lever -21-, link Q2-- and a fusible link -23-, the lever -21- being preferably in the form of a bell crank having one arm pivoted at -24- to a suitable bracket -25- on the upper portion of the bar JT- and its other arm provided with a hook-shaped extremity -26- connected with one end of the fusible link Q3- The link 22- is pivotally connected at -27- to the angle of the bell crank lever 21- and its other end is pivotally connected at -29- to a bracket -30- on the upper portionof the gate -12- as best seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be observed, upon reference to Fig. 2, that the pivots -24- and 29- are disposed one beneath the other in nearly the same vertical plane some distance beyond the outer face of the gate and frame upon which it is mounted and that the upper weighted end of the lever -21- is normally held by the fusible link --23 in nearly the same vertical plane as and above said pivots so as to relieve as far as possible the normal strain on said link by the combined weights of the lever and gate. It will also be observed that the lever -21 and its link 22- constitutes a toggle normally flexed upwardly and held in its flexed position by the thermally released detent #-23- but so adjusted that when extended or straightened out by the closing of the door, the pivot -27- will assume a position nearly in a direct line between the pivots -24- and QSL- as shown by dotted lines at the right of Fig. 2, thereby holding a toggle lock between the gate and frame for holding the gate in its closed position, said pivot Q7- being normally disposed in a vertical plane at the outside of the plane of the pivots -21- and -29- so that the weight 32- will always exert a slight downward pressure upon the gate road to close said gate with progressively increasing force when the detent 23- is released.

In order that both gates may close automatically by the destruction of either of the fusible links -23-, said fusible links are connected through the wall by connecting rod -23- as best seen in Fig. 2, said rod being passed freely through a suitable opening -31- in the wall some distance above the shield.

It is now clear that in case of lire at either side of the wall, the adjacent detent -Q3- will be destroyed, thereby allowing both gates to close by their own gravity aided by suitable weights 32- on the upper arms of the levers 2lln some instances it may not be desirable to have both gates close simultaneously by the fusing of one of the detents and in such case I may provide each gate with a separate device for holding it in its open position as shown in Figs. 8 and 4, said device consisting in this instance of a lever #S5-1 a link .--b'w and a fusible detent 3T- The lever 35- is pivoted at 38- to a suitable bracket -39- on the upper portion of the bar T and is normally rocked upwardly and connected by the fusible detent -37- to astationary fastening device AIO-- on the adjacent side of the wall, the link 36- being looped around the lower end of the lever just outside of its pivot and connected to a hook -41- on the outer portion so that in case the detent -37- should be fused by heat during a fire it would release the lever 35- and allow the gate -12- to drop to its closed position either against the belt or against the underlying abutment -l6-.

lVhen the gates are in their normal open positions their flanges -11- on the lower edges thereof project slightly below the upper side of the opening -2- so as to protect the wall against contact with the belt and for a similar reason the lower side of the opening is protected by a plate -lelwhich overlies the adjacent portion of the wall and is secured to the flanges 1G, thereby forming a continuous bearing for the belt across this portion of the wall.

As previously intimated the gate -12- is laminated being composed of a main body of sheet iron and a backing of sheet brass, the latter lbeing secured iatwise to the sheet iron by overturning its upper and side edges thereon as best seen in Figs. 2 and G, the overturned side edges of the brass riding in the grooves `-20-, thereby affording an easier sliding lit between the gate and guideways and at the same time reducing the liability of setting or sticking of the gate by corrosion.

For the same purpose the pivotal bearings for the levers -21- and links -22- which are made of cast iron are provided with brass bushings d6- lVhat I claim is:

A fire shield for wall openings comprising metal frames secured to opposite facesof the wall around the opening' and connected through said opening, each frame extending above the opening a distance not less than the vertical depth of such opening and provided with upright guides at opposite sides thereof, normally open gravity-closing gates slidable in their respective guides, weighted levers pivoted to the frames above their respective gates, heat destructible connections between said levers through an opening in the wall and normally holding the levers against their own weight, and links connecting the levers with their respective gates for forcibly closing the latter by the descent of the weighted levers in case said connections are destroyed by heat.

ln witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand on this 21st day of September 1911.

DAVID S. VATSON.

lVitnesses:

H. E. CHASE, E. F. SPEAKING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. G. 

